I loved this car... except for this one fatal flaw that ruined things.

I've had some cars where despite loving them the long list of problems caused me to run, but some cars have had just one major issue that made me dump them.

For instance I really loved my 2002 Outback wagon with the H6. The whole car was overall really great, huge cargo capacity, amazing in snow, comfortable leather interior and the motor had better power than their N/A 2.5 and was much more reliable than any Subaru turbo. The only problem was the damned car rusted out from under me. When I got rid of it it needed pretty much every hard line underneath it replaced and the structure of the car itself was getting eaten away pretty good.  I am not sure what I was thinking exactly when I bought it as it had some decent rust underneath, but most New England cars are rusty underneath, I guess I didn't figure it would progress quite as quick as it did.

Not one we bought, but the wife and I checked out the new CX-30 at the car show this month.  Really nice.  However, once the seat was at the right height, we had to lean over and bend our necks way too far (and uncomfortably) in order to get in and out without hitting our heads.

My screen name is Allroad.

I no longer own an Allroad.

Such an awesome car with such catastrophic flaws.

Drove an '86 El Camino for three or four years, it was owned by my Uncle and then my Mom bought it because she always loved it.  Some trained monkey just boogered up everything with the engine.  It was a great car and reliable as hell once it was fixed, but the ignition work and me not being a Chevy guy when I started driving it just absolutely killed my love for it.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

My screen name is Allroad.

I no longer own an Allroad.

Such an awesome car with such catastrophic flaws.

We will call its fatal flaw being an Audi. Having owned a 2001 A6, I understand where you're coming from.

Anything vw..... 

The answer is Miata

..except I'm too tall. 

Freaking LOVED the e39. Except for waiting to see what would break next. The fear is the fatal flaw.

And vacuum leaks. 

Love my 95 miata. Except it contributed to back problems that required surgery to correct. I could have fixed that with new seats and maybe a drop floor, but I had a kid.  Now it's for sale.

2012 Focus, Ford’s glitchy economy-minded dual clutch auto trans.

With a properly functioning transmission and shift paddles instead of a stupid button on the shifter it would be such a fun little do-everything car.

Ive owned a few convertible but I am still not sure if I like convertibles. I have owned a 89 Chevy Cavalier Z34 vert, a 95 M edition NA, and the 17 ND RF. The RF was my favorite because it was a coupe most of the time but i could put the top down if I wanted. I'm not counting my Samurai because it had a aftermarket hardtop bedlinered on permanently.  Wow over 50% of my owned cars have been convertibles.....  I also like FC verts and want a cobra replica.... but I dont like convertibles....

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

I had one of those with a 5 speed.  Was great except whoever programmed the throttle should be fired out of a cannon into the sun.  Rev hang is annoying when shifting, far worse when staying in gear and the car keeps up significant acceleration after letting off the gas.  Hit the gas? Wait until it feels like moving.  Take your foot off?  Hope you're covering the brakes because the thing wants to keep accelerating.  

I dont blame throttle by wire. I've driven some throttle by wire cars that were fine.  Even some with rev hang that didnt make me want to light it all on fire.  But that car was the most annoying.  

we had to lean over and bend our necks way too far (and uncomfortably) in order to get in and out without hitting our heads.

Last November i sat in every brand new Audi besides the R8 and every single one of them basically required me to ram my elbow into the B-pillar to touch the window switch because it was so far back on the door panel. It was uniformly uncomfortable on every single one.  

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

I had a 2012 Fiesta with the same trans.  I didn't mind it.  Got phenomenal gas mileage (like 42mpg without trying hard).  Some high school girl pulled out into traffic and I ended up getting hit head on while sitting in the turn lane.  Probably the best thing to happen to that car because the clutches were starting to slip.  I really liked it though when I was driving 1hr 20min to work. 

Back on topic though.  I bought my wife a BMW X5.  LOVED that thing.  For whatever reason the blend door didn't work right so A/C was fine but when you switched over to heat it would only blow through the defrost vents. I read probably 10 different things online of what the fix was.  None of them cheap.  Then when it would rain the sunroof drain would leak into the rear quarter panel and fill up with water.  It happens to be the same spot the BMW put the amp for the radio.  My wife started the car one morning and said it smelled like burnt wiring and the radio started glitching.  I finally found the problem after hearing water sloshing around while I was driving.  I got everything dryed back out and working properly and I decided it was time to trade it in.

I replaced my 95 Accord wagon due to Honda transmission, traded it in on a 2004 lancer ralliart wagon. The first big flaw is the automatic-only for North America.

I figured it being a Mitsubishi, I should keep right on shopping for a fun to drive replacement with a manual transmission.  

That was 10 years ago. I'm not in a financial position to replace a good running car that's paid for and does everything I need, but hey, it's a Mitsubishi so it has to die soon, right?

It's still surprisingly fun to drive, and I've even used it as a backup for my autocross Miatas.

Second flaw:

It's been so damn reliable that I haven't been able to buy my: WRX, E36, E38, G35, Civic SI...

I love my 500 abarth, but it has broken 3 sets of shock mounts and now the right front is broken again.  It's got 88k miles and other than the broken shock mounts,  it's an awesome daily driver.

Rust.

The only reason I have ever sold a car.

Elise and exige.

You drove over the FIA curbing at too high of speed? Totalled. 

Acura TL SH-AWD 6-speed was, I think, the perfect daily but the engine ate itself from the inside out. Just got a letter in the mail about a class action regarding the J37 oil consumption. 

AxeHealey said:

Acura TL SH-AWD 6-speed was, I think, the perfect daily but the engine ate itself from the inside out. Just got a letter in the mail about a class action regarding the J37 oil consumption. 

I had a customer with one of those with a misfire, but said the plugs were done 2000mi ago when the dealer had the heads off to replace the rings so it couldn't be the plugs.

Plugs looked like like 120k miles than 2k miles.  And the plug wells were full of oil because the dealership parts hanger just rammed the valve covers on, tearing the plug well seals, instead of walking the seals around with a pocket screwdriver, which is a pain in the ass on a V6 in a cramped engine bay, but necessary if you don't want to be an embarassment to your profession.

Mazdaspeed6 - perfect in every way until the hood had to come up. 6th gear failed and chewed up a couple of others, replaced those and the dual mass flywheel, transfer case locked up two weeks later, replaced that, sold the car with a huge "CAVEAT EMPTOR" on the bill of sale, buyer called back the next week to tell me that the timing chain had derailed on the freeway.

RSX Type S. Loved everything about the car, but I never could find a good seating position that didn't kill my lower back. I think two pieces of plywood nailed together would have been better. After driving it from Raleigh to Road Atlanta, I literally had to crawl out of the car on my hands and knees due to back pain. I had the car for 18 months before I found a solution to the problem. Turns out, the answer was an '04 Mazdaspeed Miata, which is still my daily driver.. 

RAV4 V6 Sport: Uncomfortable seat bottom that was painful for drives  longer than 1/2 hour. Otherwise, an all-around awesome sporty CUV.

CX-5: Uncomfortable seat back that was painful just on a test drive. Otherwise, seemed to be an all-around awesome sporty CUV.

NA Miata: berkeleying water leaks that nothing seems to quell.

OHSCrifle said:

The answer is Miata

 

..except I'm too tall. 

This!

I tried... to the point I was sitting on steel.  Then the back pain started...